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Child Abuse Negl. 2022 Jan;123:105383. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105383. Epub 2021 Nov 5.
COVID-19 continues to have devastating impacts across the United States, causing high levels of unemployment and disconnection from work and school. Furthermore, some communities are at higher risk for adverse outcomes due to the pandemic, including transition age foster youth. Transition age foster youth report negative impacts on their employment, educational attainment, ability to meet basic needs, and their connection to work and school.
The current study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on key young adult outcomes including education, employment, financial well-being, and disconnection from work and school.
Young people from the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative complete a survey every April and October. This study focuses on a subsample of 2117 young people who completed 8004 surveys. Utilizing an interrupted time series design, we examine changes in outcomes at six time points pre-pandemic onset (April 2017-October 2019) and two timepoints post-pandemic onset (October 2020 and April 2021).
The pandemic slowed the declining school enrollment rates but did not reverse the downward trend that started before the pandemic. The pandemic decreased the number of young people who were employed and increased the number of those who were disconnected from work and school. The pandemic increased the number of young people who reported having savings.
Transition age foster youth needs access to employment and educational opportunities, which were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional resources are needed to ensure young people are connected to work and school.
COVID-19 继续在美国造成毁灭性影响，导致失业率高企，与工作和学校脱节。此外，由于大流行，一些社区面临更高的不良后果风险，包括过渡年龄寄养青年。过渡年龄寄养青年报告说，他们的就业、教育程度、满足基本需求的能力以及与工作和学校的联系受到负面影响。
本研究考察了 COVID-19 大流行对关键成年早期结果的影响，包括教育、就业、财务状况以及与工作和学校的脱节。
来自 Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative 的年轻人在每年的 4 月和 10 月完成一次调查。本研究重点关注完成了 8004 次调查的 2117 名年轻人的子样本。利用中断时间序列设计，我们在大流行前六个时间点（2017 年 4 月至 2019 年 10 月）和大流行后两个时间点（2020 年 10 月和 2021 年 4 月）检查结果的变化。
大流行减缓了入学率下降的速度，但没有扭转大流行前开始的下降趋势。大流行减少了就业的年轻人数量，增加了与工作和学校脱节的年轻人数量。大流行增加了报告有储蓄的年轻人数量。
过渡年龄寄养青年需要获得就业和教育机会，但在 COVID-19 大流行期间这些机会受到了干扰。需要额外的资源来确保年轻人与工作和学校保持联系。
